Letters to the Editor: Churchgoers are just as vulnerable to COVID-19 as protesters

Los Angeles Times Opinion
·1 min read
Alyssa Skobis, 22 of Downey, is baptized in the Pacific Ocean by Salt Costa Mesa Church leaders Joe Ferguson, left, and his wife Taylor Ferguson, during the weekly Saturate OC worship event held north of the pier in Huntington Beach, on Friday, July 10, 2020.
A worshiper is baptized in the ocean during a weekly Saturate O.C. event in Huntington Beach on July 10. (Los Angeles Times)

To the editor: A reader who suggested that hundreds of Evangelical Christians somehow deserve a pass from social distancing and mask wearing was dangerously given prominent space in the letters section.

He said he has been watching helplessly as protesters not wearing masks or social distancing have taken over streets and blocked roads. I also stand helplessly watching an equal number of evangelicals gathering "peacefully" at the beach.

A gathering during a pandemic without masks or social distancing is a recipe for disaster, no matter its purpose. An evangelical Christian can transmit the virus to me as easily as an unruly protester.

Has the writer not watched the news or read the very newspaper to which he sent his letter?

Michele Adashek, Los Angeles

..

To the editor: The 1st Amendment does not protect me if I should yell "fire" in a crowded theater, and the 2nd Amendment does not entitle me to own a rocket launcher.

All of our precious civil liberties are subject to reasonable limitations. It does not unreasonably burden the free exercise of religion to require social distancing and masks during a pandemic.

This country has the best record for true freedom of religion in the history of the world. Let's all exercise our freedoms responsibly.

William L. Winslow, Santa Monica